A Seattle, Wash. man was charged with having a loaded handgun at a Wall Township shopping plaza, police said. File photo

WALL TOWNSHIP – A Seattle, Wash. man was charged with a weapons offense Monday after police found him carrying a loaded handgun at a township shopping plaza, authorities said.

Authorities responded to the Brook 35 plaza for a report of a suspicious person at around 1:40 p.m. and found Howard Forbes, 44, carrying a loaded .380 Ruger, police said in a release.

Forbes was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and was taken to crisis intervention at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune before being transported to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold in lieu of $10,000 bail, police said.